


Tony and Bruce Search the Destroyed Malibu Mansion

by sunbean72



Series: Then [3]
Category: Avengers, Hulk - Fandom, Iron Man - Fandom
Genre: Bruce is helping Tony discover a cure for Extremis, Gen, Hulk - Freeform, Iron Man - Freeform, Science Bros, i love these two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 17:22:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13415991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunbean72/pseuds/sunbean72
Summary: After Iron Man 3





	Tony and Bruce Search the Destroyed Malibu Mansion

"What color is it?" Bruce Banner asked, carefully shifting a piece of debris and peering under it.

"It's just black. It might have red on it, I think." 

"Where was it last time you used it?"

"Uh... over there."

A pause from Bruce this time. "Over there? Uhhh... there's nothing there, Tony."

"Yeah. That... area... used to be my workstation. Cleanup crews have been all through there, haven't found it, but I was hoping for a little bit of luck. I was hoping it..." He let the sentence trail off, distracted by a glimmer of light reflected off a piece of metal, but it was nothing. A twisted mass of waste and ruin, looked like it was once the set of tools Pepper had given him for his birthday years ago. He poked at it, trying to see if anything was salvageable, but the destruction appeared universal.

The odds of them finding the small jump-drive where he'd stored all JARVIS' research on Killian, AIM, and Maya Hansen's work were slim. Next to nothing. Crews had gone all through here and were ready to finish demolishing the mansion. Everything salvageable or possibly important or too expensive looking to be recycled or dumped was currently residing in a warehouse not far from the Tower they were residing in. He'd been through all that, with no luck, and had everyone keeping an eye out for it. He could remember that there was something important on it, but now he was wondering if it was important enough for all this trouble.

Perhaps he didn't want to lose anything else.

Tony Stark didn't care about _things._ It was a privilege of being rich, he knew, but he just couldn't _care._ But sitting amidst the utter destruction of where he'd built his life, where he'd built the suits, where he'd built his relationships, it was... well, it was a lot. It was bothering him more than he expected. The suits-- gone. He'd done that, as a kind of promise to Pepper that he'd quit compulsively building suits as a coping mechanism for his anxiety and depression and get some help. It was good. But the protection they promised was gone, and it bothered him. It was like an itch on an infected wound, he didn't even want to touch it. At least they'd found U and DUM-E, even if there was no saying yet if they were salvageable, he had to help Pepper before he even thought about that. They were still working to unbury the robots, which was slowed by the fact that they were deep underwater, but at least they'd found them.

He looked over at Bruce, who was carefully sifting through some rubble, hopping on one foot to regain his balance when he tripped over a piece of concrete. The curly-haired scientist looked tired; he'd been pretty much keeping up with Tony's blistering pace, forgoing sleep almost as much as he did. He could tell Bruce wasn't used to it, worried that it made it more difficult for him to keep his temper. But whenever he told Bruce to go to bed, the quiet scientist just smiled vaguely and said he would right after he finished this or that task. Tony knew he should probably force the issue, but the truth was, he was grateful, incredibly grateful, that Bruce was around, helping him.

He needed to break down. Badly. He'd seen Pepper be tortured and fall to her supposed death. He'd been held captive himself. He'd lost nearly everything he had and was, at the present, without even a single suit to protect himself or anyone else. But he couldn't break down, couldn't give in to the anxiety clawing insistently in his chest, not until he figured out Extremis. Having Bruce there was keeping him sane.

"We should go," Tony said finally. "There's no way to find this thing here, and it was probably destroyed by the heat anyway."

"You're probably right," Bruce said distractedly, but kept looking. He was covered in dust now, tugging at a pile of rocks. "Hang on. What's this?"

Tony turned and his brow furrowed and he gave an incredulous smirk. "I'll be damned. There's no way that should have survived." He picked his way over to Bruce and took the singed and dirty material Bruce was holding. "It's a stocking I made when I was a kid, for my... for Jarvis the man. I kept it and hung it up every year for JARVIS my AI." He glanced at Bruce who gave him a teasing and pleased smile.

"That's incredible. I didn't know you sewed."

"With the best of them," he joked back. "I mean, when I was a kid. Home ec level, so." He fidgeted with the antique Christmas stocking, slightly sloppy but clearly with care and attention-- at least, as much care and attention as a ten-year-old child genius could provide. Tony brushed dust and soot off the damaged fabric. "It was supposed to be that we make one for our parents, but I knew dad would hate the idea of me sewing even if it was for school, and even if I gave it to mom he'd see it, so... Jarvis it was. I didn't even wrap it, I just kind of wadded it up and threw it at him, and told him if was fine if he threw it away."

"He clearly didn't do that."

"No. He hung it up every year until he died. Never told my dad where it came from. Dad probably knew but he never said anything." Bruce smiled and blinked slowly, a tacit acknowledgment of the kind of bittersweetness of the story. Tony shuffled off, tucking the stocking into the back pocket of his jeans. They could look for a few more minutes for the drive, then they would need to get back to Pepper. Back to work. But he was thankful Bruce had found the stocking, if nothing else. It reminded him that, if nothing else, sometimes the things we lose have a way of finding their way back to us again.

He jerked his head up suddenly when Bruce gave a startled "What the hell?"

"What? What is it?" 

"Uh... it looks like a giant rabbit but that can't be right."

"Oh hey! Good work! Pepper said the workers couldn't find it, she'll be so happy! She loved that rabbit. It was too big for the mansion but it will be great in the tower!"

"I don't think--"

"Good job Bruce! I'll be sure and give you credit!"

"That really won't be--"

"No worries!" He slapped his friend on the shoulder and slung his arm around him to guide him back to the copter. They'd just have to work on the Extremis cure without the drive. He'd built more from less. He'd fix this too.


End file.
